Style Watch
Forget sailors and musicians. These days the immaculately dressed M.B.A. in the office next to yours may well be sporting a tribal tattoo beneath his Paul Smith shirt. Tattoos have gone mainstream—and responding to the trend, tattoo artists are forsaking dingy backstreet premises for upscale studios. Setting the pace is famed British body-art company Metal Morphosis, tel: (44-20) 7318 3801, which has opened a parlor inside the swanky Selfridges department store on London's Oxford Street. Ladies Who Lunch can now pop in for a quick butterfly or dolphin in between looking for a new handbag or pair of shoes. But if you can't make it to the U.K., check out these other slick studios:
TORONTO: "Please don't call us a tattoo parlor," says manager Raven Rowanchilde of Urban Primitive Body Design, tel: (1-416) 966 9155. "We're an arts studio." Expect ethnic furnishings, incense and New Age music here, too.
PARIS: With its fish tanks and trendy décor, Abraxas, tel: (33-1) 4804 3355, exemplifies the new style of tattoo parlor in the French capital.
TOKYO: Located in fashionable Aoyama, Luz's ultra-chic designs and all white, minimalist décor make it a favorite among celebrities and models; tel: (81-3) 5464 6321.
LOS ANGELES: It might look more like an art boutique, but Black Wave, tel: (1-323) 932 1900, has become one of the most respected tribal tattoo studios in the U.S.
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